And wait some more.

Constantly checking the news wires, the message boards, the tweets, even Facebook now and then, for any hint of which way the Atlantic Coast Conference may be leaning. UConn or Louisville?

Behind closed doors in the Carolinas and the Lone Star State, the fate of the UofL athletic program is being decided. The future directions of the Big East and the ACC as well … maybe even the Big 12?

Nothing UofL fans can do but hope that all the things the University has done over the past 15 years has made enough of an impression to get over the final hurdle of acceptance by a major football conference. Everyone agrees that the transformation of the campus under the leadership of Jim Ramsey and Tom Jurich has been nothing short of amazing.

Driving around the campus these days provides many reminders, from the new entrances on Cardinal Boulevard and Third Street to the redesigned Eastern Parkway and the restored Thinker, the campus has a totally different look and feel than when Ramsey arrived in 2002. But the changes go well beneath the surface,  with more than 68 students earning Fulbright Scholarships in that time, more than all Kentucky universities combined. His ultimate goal, backed by the state legislature, is make UofL a premiere research university, and he’s on track to make that happen.

Jurich, of course, was the man who got UofL into the Big East and was the driving force behind all the new athletic facilties, ranging from an indoor football pratice facility to the ultra exceptional KFC Yum! Center. He also has recruited a cadre of top flight coaches (with one exception) and provided quality facilities, making UofL competitive in every sport.

Have they done enough to overcome the intransigence that existed for so many decades, overcoming a dearth of commuity leadership that all but ignored the vast potential that existed on Belknap Campus? The UofL football team playing a baseball stadium for 40 years, for gosh sakes, striving to keep its head above water. Back in the late seventies, Louisville barely making the 17,000 attendance-wise to stay classified as a Division 1A program.

Yes, Howard Schnellenberger had the vision of a new stadium, and Bill Olson and Malcolm Chancey made it happen. Jurich filled the place and expanded it while overcoming legislative footdragging, and beamed with pride with an average of attendance of more than 50,000 since completion.

“It may not be the biggest, but I want it to be the best,” he has said numerous times after embarking on new projects, a philosophy Jurich shares with this boss. If there was ever a question about what a good athletic program can do for a university, one need only to look at what Jurich has done at UofL.

The university may be about to experience a milestone that would have been unimaginable before the arrival of Jim Ramsey and Tom Jurich on campus.

Well worth the wait.

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By Charlie Springer

Charlie Springer is a former Louisville editor and sportswriter, a public affairs consultant, a UofL grad and longtime fan.

3 thoughts on “Ramsey, Jurich make the right moves … now we wait”
  1. It would be an amazing achievement for us; and one well earned.

    I grew up in the days when we were in the Missouri Valley Conf. and our regular foes were Drake and Bradley, it is with great pride that I see we have come far enough to be among the elites. That is where we are, facts are facts. Now, we just need someone to step and welcome us into the club.

  2. Charlie, I’m curious to know your opinion about the following scenario:

    U of L joins any other conference. The Cardinals dominate in all sports. Thanks to technology, U of L sports fans (and lots of others get to witness this). Offers will start to be made as ADs in other conferences realize they were bone-headed and that Louisville is SERIOUS about sports and academics. Just like Temple was “kicked out” of the Big East, schools think that once in your in for life.

    Louisville is a Top-Tier program in most college sports. For a “Major” Conference not to realize that potential would really surprise me.

    1. Justcards, I’m getting more optimistic the longer this current wait goes on. And I have this vision of a room full of attorneys poring over mountains of document, Jim and Tom standing by with pens in their hands.

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